the renaissance man

Bruce Arena buries US soccer

Bruce Arena has buried US soccer for another 5 years. By sticking to non-producing veteran players in a 4-5-1 scheme that had failed to score a goal so far in the World Cup, Bruce Arena negated any of the young talent he had on the field. His inept management, on the field and in the press room, has set back the adoption of soccer as a national pasttime in this country for at least another 5 years.

We were on the verge of an explosion of soccer in the national consciousness, but that’s all out the window now. By not scoring even one goal in the World Cup, Arena’s US side has proven what the naysayers in this country have thought all along: soccer is boring. Arena made it that way. They won’t see the excitement and glory that the Ghanians are enjoying, but that’s another story altogether.

Landon Donovan needs to stick to the MLS and hope that he can continue to be the best player in that league, because he has no chance on the world stage. He absolutely disappeared in this cup. Sure, the 4-5-1 scheme didn’t help, but even on the set pieces, he couldn’t get the ball into the box on a dare. He and Beasley can just play kickups in the park for spare change for as much good as they did this team.

Let’s replace them with Johnson and Wolf and see what happens. Please, try anything Bruce. It’s clear that what you were doing doesn’t work.